Tuesday, 26 September 2017

A Chitungwiza man who allegedly raped his nine-year-old
niece and bought her Zapnax to silence her has appeared in court on rape
charges. The offence came to light when the victim wrote a letter to her mother
advising her of the abuse after police officers conducted an awareness campaign
on sexual abuse at her school.

The accused is the maternal uncle to the girl. The man was
not asked to plead to the charges when he appeared before Chitungwiza resident
magistrate Mr Francis Mapfumo and was remanded in custody to October 2.

The prosecutor Mr Tatenda Mukatera told the court that on
an unknown date in 2015, the minor was alone at home and decided to sleep in
the kitchen since she was not feeling well. The accused allegedly came into the
kitchen and instructed the girl to close the door and she complied.

After that he allegedly sexually abused the girl
threatening to beat her if she disclosed the offence to anyone. He then bought
her zap knacks on two different occasions to buy her silence. However, in March
2016, police officers visited the minor’s school to carry out an awareness
campaign on sexual abuse.

This made the minor realise that she had been sexually
abused. The girl wrote a letter describing the abuse by her uncle during her
mother’s absence. Her mother reported the matter to the police leading to his
arrest. herald